Athens Twilight

Saturday was the Athens Twilight. Andre and I went down with Evan along. We left Asheville around 6:30 am and made ouw way towards Athens, we arrived down there around 9:15 and had to find a place to park and registration. These projects took about 20 min. I started getting ready for my first race at 10:15. The weather was great, not too hot yet, and no rain (yet).

I lined up for the Masters 30+ race, their was only about 40 riders or so in the field with most of those being cat 1 and 2, the top 10 would qualify for the race tonight. The race started off fast, but smooth, I was in the middle of the field feeling good and rolling along. Then Jason Sprouse from I 9 started the attacks and they didn't stop, I eventually got shelled off of the back with about 10 min to go, but I wasn't the only one so I kept going just to finish the race and stay warm for the Cat 3 race in about an hour. I finished 23rd.

When the Cat 3's started lining up, they took the line before they were supposed to and I had to line up at the back (this would become a problem). The race took off and was moving pretty well, it felt sketchy for a 3 race but I was going to find Andre and just move up slowly. On my first attempt to move up, I got behind a few riders that ran into each other on a flat in the straightaway (is this a 3 race?). This caused the first gap that I had to make up. The corners were also causing big problems for some riders, so the speeds at the back were going from 17 mph back up to 30+ mph at every turn, this was getting really tiring. On my next attempt to move up, some guy just hit the curb on another straightaway (are you kidding?) this caused a gap right before the turns, so now I had to accelerate and decelerate 3 times on this side. People started coming off the group and eventually I got caught behind one of those guys and could not close the gap back to the field, my day was done and no racing that night. Andre raced a smart race and got 17th to qualify for the show, where he finished 5 th among a field that was filled with mostly 1's and 2's, congrats to Andre.

Clemson

The course at Clemson had been changed for Sun, the big climb and descent had been taken out leaving a 5 mile loop that we would do five times.

My start was slow (like always), I wasn't sure how I would feel after sleeping most of Sat.

The first half mile was dust city on a new part of the trail, my lungs are still brown, after the race settled in I passed a couple of people and began looking for my strong and weak points of the course. After I figured out how I wanted to ride, I started working on moving up, I felt a little stiff because of the technical nature and roughness of the course, but overall I felt good, I was climbing OK pushing the flats, but a little slow on the downhill.

Even though I seemed to be feeling good through the whole race, everyone else must have felt better, I couldn't make up any places in the last 15 miles, even though I kept seeing the guys in front, I could't close the gap.

Not sure of my final position, the full results were not up yet.

First fixed gear track race.

Last Tuesday, April 15th was my first fixed gear track race. I would be starting out in the C class since I was a newbie. I had some teammates in the race with me, so I thought it would be a fun night. My legs were a little tired, and didn't have much snap, but I pushed through.

The first race of the night was a scratch race, where the winnner is the first one across the line on the last lap (pretty basic). One of the guys Marshall turned out to be fast and on his game, he took first in the race, with Frank 2nd and me 4th.

The second race of the night was a "point-a-lap" race, this is where the winner of each lap gets a point, the rider with the most points after 8 laps wins. Marshall was very strong in this race and timed all of his sprints perfectly, even with Frank working his butt off for me, I couldn't hold him off. Marshall took 1st and I got 2nd.

The last race of the night was a "points race". Riders race for points on every 3rd lap (for our race) to get points, 5-3-2-1 for 1st-2nd-3rd-4th, respectively. I was feeling good for this race and some of the other guys also wanted to try and keep him in. I only missed one sprint in the race, a break got away and took the points, but I earned enough points to take first for the race.

Overall, I was 2nd in the omnium (results had me at 3rd) and had a great night for myself and my team. Frank was definitely a big help mentally and physically, and Leslie being in the field was definite motivation.

Everyone that put on the event did a great job, thank you.

Track racing was definitely much more fun than I thought it would be, I can't wait until next Tuesday.

First Cat 3 Race

My first Cat 3 race was in Spartanburg, SC on April 14. Some of the pros said the course was tough because of all of the small steep climbs. The weather was very cool compared to the previous week. The group was about half of the size of what I was used to in the 4's. The race rolled off, I was feeling tired from moving, but I hoped the feeling would pass as the race went on. The Bio-Wheels guys were sending attack after attack, working on the field. I was content to just sit in and see how my day went, The climbs were tough, but nothing I couln't handle. I tried to find a sweet spot in the field, but couldn't. As the race went on, people fell off and I was getting closer to the back. This caused me to start working around gaps and that starting wearing on me. Finally, on a short little hill, two guys (that were also struggling) opened a gap in front of all of us and the field, I couldn't close it.

I kept riding to finish the race, I made a wrong turn and had to back track some, but I still maanaged to pass one more and rode in to finish.

I need sleep.

Moving

Sorry, race reports have been slow, Lindsay and I bought a house and have been moving. Along with working out of town that doesn't leave much free time.

Upgrade

I am now upgraded to Cat 3.

Can't wait to race with the faster crowd, new speed to get used to.

Luckily I have some strong teammates waiting for me in the 3's. That makes it a little easier.

Uwharrie XC Race

Sunday was the first XC race of the year. I went with Alan, his wife, and the whole family. We arrived with plenty of time for me to get ready and warm up, warming up would prove to be tough because it was so cold. I wasn't really expecting too much today, just wanted to see where my fitness was compared to the other guys. I had a much better start than usual, as I was sitting in 3rd place, after a 1/2 mile or so I moved to 2nd and sat on the leaders wheel. He was looking for his team mate, so we slowed slightly and settled in. Now, there were 4 of us at the front with a gap, I was feeling good and ready to have a good day. I drifted back a little as we hit some hills, but the long flat ahead would close me back up slightly. We got to the top of the course and now I was with the 2nd group of 3 with the leaders in sight, I was not pushing too hard and I felt like I could move up if needed. After, the first downhill, I crossed the creek and went to climb only to find that my chain was off. I had to stop to fix that, now I was in the 3rd group. I stayed with them until the start of the 2nd lap, Neal pulled off and I set sail to move back up, I left the guys in the third group and caught the next guy up. I went tto the top with him and one other guy and I was looking to hit another spurt after the downhill.

That didn't happen, being off of the mtn bike for a month told on me. I had to be running with too much pressure, I started feeling the bumps, then the front wheel washed out on me and I went down. My right calf cramped and I had to lay on the ground for a minute moaning like a cow giving birth. I got back up and saw my rear derailleur hanger was bent, I rigged it to get rolling again, and went a few miles before I shifted the derailleur into the rear wheel and the chain behind the cassette (awesome). I limped in from the 2nd lap with no east gears on my bike, I thought about hanging it up for the day, but I saw Alan with an evil grin on his face as he was handing me my water bottle, so I sucked it up and kept going. I tried to stay smooth and calm on the last lap, and I made it around with no problems. I finished 8th and got to watch one guy finish a few minutes after me (poor guy).

No good gauge of fitness, my skills were at a 3 out of 10.